Questions to “… but were too afraid to ask”
1. From which Greek words is the English word microscope derived, what is their literal
translation?
4 points
2. What is the resolving power or resolution of the (average) unaided human eye (given
sufficiently bright illumination)?
2 points
3. What is the resolving power of the very best light microscopes (in the far field)?
2 point
4. What is the resolving power of the very best (state-of-the-art) transmission electron
microscopes (TEM) (with aberration correctors)?
2 points
5. What is the resolving power of a modern scanning electron microscope (SEM) (without
aberration correctors)?
2 points
6. Why does the column of an electron microscope need to be evacuated? 2 points
7. What are the four main components of a modern TEM?
4 points
8. What electric current is typical for a modern TEM? 2 points
Given such an electric
current, how many electrons impinge approximately on the specimen per second?
2 points
9. What is the speed of the electrons at 300 kV acceleration voltage?
2 point
10. Given the typical electric current through the sample from question 8, is it likely that there is
more than one electron transmitting the sample at any one time?
4 points
11. What is “the essential” difference between the lenses in a light microscope and a TEM as far
as magnification is concerned?
2 points
12. What is astigmatism and how can it be corrected in a TEM ?
2 points
13. Is water cooling needed for the operation of a TEM?
1 point
14. What is the typical size of a sample for a TEM investigation?
3 points
15. Did you find any “somewhat surprising physical entity” i.e. some number plus its SI
unit, that seems to strongly indicate that there is a mistake in this booklet? 4 points
16. What are the most important differences between TEM and SEM?
3 point
17. What is the conceptual difference between TEM and STEM?
1 point
18. What is an ESEM?
1 point
19. Does it make sense to integrate an electron energy loss spectrometer into a modern SEM
column? 2 points, If so, under which name is such an instrument known? 2 points
20. Does is make sense to integrate a spectrometer for characteristic X-rays into a modern SEM
column? 2 point
21. Does is make sense to integrate an ion source into a modern SEM column? 2 points If so,
under which name is such an instrument known? 2 points
55 points total